All posts tagged Markets

Shares of Apple Inc. competitors in Asia are getting a boost from news that Steve Jobs is stepping down, but component suppliers are taking a hit.

“Samsung has long been suffering because of Apple,” says Meritz Securities analyst Lee Sun-tae, adding that “losing Jobs means that Apple may find it increasingly difficult to boost its pie in the technology industry…the non-Apple camp will see more room to expand their share in the industry.”

So much for the pyrotechnic displays we are used to from the Japanese currency when markets go bonkers.

Here we are again, gripped in a rather scary stock market fall and a bond market rally of historic proportions. What’s the yen doing? Nothing.

The currency that causes so much consternation in the halls of the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo is lying as still as a lapdog. It’s been so remarkably steady the past few days, including Friday morning, one could be forgiven for confusing it with the Hong Kong dollar, which is virtually pegged to the U.S. dollar. Following the swoon in U.S. and European markets Thursday, Asian investors dumped shares Friday morning.

Sorry seems to be the hardest word, as they say, and noodle chain Ajisen (China) Holdings Ltd. has learned a painful lesson in the value of owning up before it’s too late.

The fall and fall of the ramen chain’s star started last month when media reports said that the company’s broth was made with cheap powders and other instant seasoning, rather than by boiling pig bones as it had claimed in its advertising. The stock plummeted more than 8% on July 26.

The window for IPOs in Hong Kong hasn’t entirely shut, it seems, with a few gutsy souls pressing ahead even in this market environment.

As Dow Jones Newswires reports, New China Life Insurance Co. has filed an application with the Hong Kong stock exchange to list in Hong Kong and Shanghai in October, in a deal that could be worth around US$4 billion. Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., and Carlyle Group L.P.-backed Century Hotel Group Ltd. are also seeking listings in Hong Kong later this year in deals worth as much as US$1 billion and US$400 million respectively.

Thursday’s turmoil in the U.S. and European markets is hitting Taiwan particularly hard with the government stepping in to stem losses.

The Taiex was down more than 5% on Friday morning, the lowest level since Sept. 10, with tech heavyweights HTC, Chimei Innolux and AU Optronics all down by their daily limit. TSMC and Hon Hai are both down around 5%. The index had already lost 4.4% from Tuesday to Thursday.

It looks like there’s nowhere safe to hide in the markets in Hong Kong on Friday.

Only a dozen or so Hong Kong stocks on the main board are now in positive territory with 226 stocks already hitting 52-week lows, in early trade, including blue chips HSBC, Henderson Land, New World Development, Hang Lung Properties, China Merchants Holdings, Citic Pacific, Cathay Pacific, Esprit, Li & Fung, ICBC, China Life, Bank of Communications and Bank of China. All 46 blue chips are in the red.

Asian currencies took a bit of a breather on Thursday after the Bank of Japan intervened in the market to stem the value of the yen, giving a boost to the U.S. dollar against Asian currencies while lingering concerns over the global economy are keeping investors in risk-off mode.

Currencies in the region had been on a tear in the past few weeks, buoyed by concerns of dollar weakness amid the debt ceiling impasse in the U.S.

Financial investors are growing increasingly worried over the U.S. debt gridlock, and China is seeking to tighten control over its shadow banking system. WSJ’s Jake Lee and Peter Stein discuss in a video after the jump.

Meanwhile, currency speculators gave the speeches a thumbs down and sold off the dollar everywhere. The greenback fell against nearly every major and minor currency. During the speeches themselves, the dollar fell below 78 yen to 77.95 for the first time in four-months, its lowest point since the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. The Singapore dollar hit an all-time high against the American currency, reaching 1.204 Singapore dollars.

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